Fledgling
by hey-yall-anime-me
Summary: Unsure what to put here-normal. This has been just laying around waiting for some love: Background history, a mix of Batman comics,main focus: Nightwing. New place, self development, a fledgling away from the dominating/overshadowing parent figure. Sugest


**Recalling**

_'It just DOESN'T END.' _The bikes, the helicopters, the jets, the car's. _'You could take out a CITY with all those WEAPONS.' _Machine guns, missiles, bat-a-rang, bombs, hand guns, whips._ 'The CAVE goes on FOREVER.' _Beyond all this there was a turn that probably took the cave further back but I couldn't see it from the submarine/Airplane/Car that lay submerged in the watery pool that was a part of this massive cave._ 'And it's just getting STARTED.' _I note the machines in the back._ 'Giant ROBOT MACHINES give with robot GRUNTS and robot SQUEALS as they HAUL and HEFT and SOLDER and WELD. Its BUILDING itself. BAT screeches echo for MILES. It just DOESN'T END.'_

I couldn't help but just stare. It was, it was, it was indescribable. Too great for any words that i knew at least.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

His rough voice was barely heard as my eyes filled in with the sight of the massive cave. It was so fascinating. I wanted to jump out of the submarine/airplane/car and look at everything, touch everything. See what everything did.

"Whatta you SAY, Junior?" I couldn't tell but I sensed a bit of pride in his voice, a hint at a smile? "Is this cool or WHAT?"

I didn't know how to respond at first. I thought it was so...so...well indescribable. But I'd never let him know that.

"Yeah," I pretended not to think it was that great, though I couldn't look away so I continued to look over it from the corner of my eyes. "I guess it's okay. I mean I've seen better but I guess this is okay."

He looked out the window his face returned to that of a frown. I could only wonder as to what he was thinking.

I couldn't help but feel proud as the kids eyes bulged from his face as his eyes set on my layer. It was good to know my hard work was as impressive as it should be.

"Pretty Cool, huh?" The kid just continued to stare. He couldn't take his eyes away. I couldn't help the grin spreading across my unshaven face as I watched the kid, he looked almost as if he couldn't believe what he was getting for Christmas, but let me tell you now I sure as hell am not planning to give him my cave.

"Whatta you SAY, Junior?" I let my hands press against the steering wheel. "Is this cool or WHAT?" I thought he'd be thrilled at getting to live in a place like this.

He continued to stare for a few more minutes before he suddenly looked uninterested.

"Yeah, I guess it's okay. I mean I've seen better, but I guess this is okay."

I could not believe my ears.

_'I don't think I like this kid. Not one BIT.'_

"Welcome HOME, Dick Grayson." I don't know I can't tell, he's too good at concealing himself, but I think I detected a hint of annoyance in his deep, gruff voice.

**BOOP. BOOP. BOOP.**

I looked up at him questioningly from the dash board where my hands had come to rest.

" "Boop"?"

"Shut up." he told me in his 'I don't take any smart remarks' kinda voice the circus director use to get with some of us kids.

He turned off the source of the 'booping' noise and got out of the car. I followed with a swift move of acrobatics out of my own side of the car.

_'It's REALLY COLD in here.' _I think to myself as I come out of a flip in mid air._ 'But then, this place is so big it'd be a DRAG to heat. It'd be IMPOSSIBLE.'_

"Keep it QUICK." he tells me all commanding. A click goes off, probably him locking the car. I continue to do acrobatics as I look around the cave.

_'No.' _I stop to look at the Roman and Japanese armor in glass cases along the near wall. I reach out to touch the glass, wondering if there real._ 'If he can build all THIS,' _I pull my hand away, knowing I'll probably get yelled at if he sees me touching the glass._ 'he'd know how to HEAT it. He must like it cold. I don't know why, but that Figures.'_

I give the tall cloaked Bat a look. He's now on the phone with someone. I can't hear what there saying, nor do I truly care.

_'Mom. Dad.' _I can't help but look down at my feet._ 'Their BRAINS splashed all over my FEET.' _Red flakes still visible on my leotard._ '(No. Don't go there. Not now).'_

I over hear some snid bits (sp?) from the Bat's conversation.

"Get that clown in METROPOLIS to fetch him. Call Kent..."

I land after making a summer salt in the air.

"Oh- and tell him BATMAN considers this a PERSONAL FAVOR."

My curiosity is peaked.

"What clown in METROPOLIS?" I find myself asking before I mean to actually do so.

"Never mind." he tells me putting his phone thingy away in his utility belt, which is kind of cool. "He's nobody important."

I catch him smiling a bit though.

What is he thinking?

_'That's RIGHT, Kent. You're BUSTED. I know who you ARE. And you've got NO damn idea who I am. I'm a detective. I'm not MIGHTIER than the pounding surf. I can't LEAP TALL BUILDINGS with a single BOUND. But I'm SMART. One HELL of a lot smarter than YOU'LL ever be.'_

Batman goes to walk away, the frown has re-printed itself upon his strained face. It kinda reminded me of Dad when he...

_'Keep MOVING.' _I tell myself as I leap in to the beginning of a cartwheel. _'It's the only WAY. You won't start CRYING and YELLING if you keep MOVING. And keep your voice STEADY.'_

I land in front of him.

"First off,"

_'Be BRAVE."_

"could I get something to WEAR instead of these stupid TIGHTS?" I tug at the tank top sleeve of the leotard. "I mean TIGHTS really BLOW CHUNKS."

He stops and he seems to be glowering down at me.

"Sorry." I don't know why I said that I just did, maybe because he is also wearing 'tights'. "it's just that I'm all sweaty and dirty and I've still got mom and dad's blood and stuff all over me.

He looks away. His face seems to show he's pained over something. Was it something I said?

_'I touched my mother's breast. It BLED on me… Nineteen years ago. The bastard shot her in the HEAD and CHEST. I heard her cough her last and I pressed my hand against her my mother's breast just in case there was any hope at all and there wasn't any heartbeat. No hope at all. Just her blood. On my hand. It'll never wash off. Never.'_

I rest my hand on the boy beside me's shoulder. So small. So young and innocent. Why? Why is the world so cruel?

_'His Hand lands on my SHOULDER, weightless as a falling LEAF. Those bigass FINGERS of his SQUEEZE like a gentle CARESS.'_

I continue to look up as his shadowed figure above me.

"Yeah." his voice sounds a bit drained. "I'll see to it that you get some new clothes."

"Thanks..." is all I can manage.

_'His VOICE is a CROAK. Like he's about to cry or something. Then he does his best to make his voice go COLD again. _

"I'll see you later."

He turns to leave. Leaving me behind him again.

"Where are you GOING?"

_'It wouldn't fool ANYBODY.'_

"WORK." he cracks his knuckles and I hear it echo off the walls of the cave.

"What am I supposed to DO now?"

"Whatever you want." his reply as he begins to vanish further in to the cave. "You look like you could use some SLEEP."

He expects me to sleep? In here?

"And where am I supposed to SLEEP, around here?"

"Anywhere you like. It's a big cave."

I feel myself begin to shiver, mostly due to the fact that this cave is FREEZING.

"Yeesh." I say as I try to depict him from the darkness. "Hey," I suddenly shout after him. "what do I do about FOOD? I'm REALLY HUNGRY!"

"Like I said, boy. It's a big cave. There's plenty to eat here."

You can't be serious.

"Your food will PRESENT itself."

...I guess _he_ could.

I stand there for a few minutes, holding myself and looking around the cave. Wondering what to do, a bit annoyed.

A bat comes by screeching. I look up to where it is, flying against the caves ceiling. An almost hissing noise seems to come near my feet. I look down surprised at first and then a bit freaked as I come eye to eye with a 'hissing' brown rat.

"Yeesh..." I can't help but make a face. Although there's a rat right there my legs seem to give out and I can't help but collapse against the cold floor of the cave. I wrap my arms around my knees and bury my face in between.

_'For a while I just SIT there and SHIVER and CRY until the SNOT'S running down my chin. Then I guess I doze. BATMAN is a CREEP. I hate his GUTS.'_

(AN: The above that you just read was a mix of my own writing and parts from BATMAN & ROBIN The Boy Wonder part four. Just so you all know!)

**Seven Years Later**

"FREEZE!"

_"Pixie...Good Girl...come to Ozzie..."_

"At ease, guys. He's not going anywhere. This is what we've been looking for. But I don't know what to make of it."

_"Good girl... C'mon girl..."_

"Isn't there suppose to be traps or something here?"

"No time for that. I say we just waste the whole thing. Lock and load boys."

BAND. WHAP. TA_TA_TA_TA

_"Pixie?"_

"I have several herb teas here, which would you prefer?"

An elderly man who looks a bit run down, but still perfectly capable of anything thrown at him, offers to a spiky black haired high school student sitting in the nice red chair in front of him. The kids dressed in a black t-shirt, pants and a nice warm green bathrobe.

"I don't need to be babied, Alfred. You were out in the cold TOO."

The kid complains, feeling that this elderly man, who he doesn't know all to well, should be taking care of himself more then him.

"I wasn't exposed to that beastly weather as long as yourself, Tim. The police stopped whatever awfulness the Joker had prepared for the city"

Which was true. He had taken much harsher the coldness outside then Alfred had. He remembered having to chase the Joker and watching, after kicking him, fall in to the sewage beneath. The cops arrived soon after that to take him away, back to Arkham, thank god.

"And Dr. Pellinger?"

The smart doctor, who'd had written a few books on how people these days were becoming to reliant on computer (which included Batman and Robin, the boy himself). Who the joker had taken an interest in and kidnapped the poor man. Then forced him to become a part of his 'evil plans'.

"He's in a sorry state, the television news reports. But he'll recover soon enough to help unravel all the bother he's created."

"It wasn't his fault though. So he wont get in any trouble, right?"

"I believer not sir." Alfred says as he hands Tim a cup of warm tea. "Because there is valid enough proof that the Joker forced him in to the situation. If the police still believe other wise then they are more foolish then any one ever realized."

Tim can't help but smile at this. The doctor will be fine and Joker is back in Arkham. Tim feels like he should be jumping up and down yelling 'hip hip hurray! I managed to save the day!' or 'Don't underestimate this bird boy!'

"We beat him, didn't WE?"

"We most CERTAINLY did at that." Alfred smiles a bit, glad to see Tim smiling. "Master Bruce will be MOST pleased when he hears of it."

Clank.

Tim and Alfred both turn to see what the cause of the commotion was, both scared for a second it was the Joker again.

"Whoa!" Tim say's as he slowly sets himself back against the back of the chair he's still sitting in.

"Hear about what?" the Batman's gruff voice asks as the cold snow from outside flutters in through the opened window.

"Master Bruce please close the window. We don't want any one catching a chill now do we?" Alfred insists as he goes to close the window behind the Batman.

"Sorry Alfred. So what will I be 'MOST'," he copied Alfred's tone of voice exactly, earning him a look from his butler and almost second father. "pleased to hear about?"

"Here's a good one," a coin could be heard flipping through the air as the cracked voice filled the hall way of a quite full block of cells. "if the Joker had no nose, how would he smell?"

Someone across the way from the green haired man himself snickered and replied, his red hair standing on end.

"Terrible!"

Laughter filled the cell block from all the inmates bound to their little chambers.

"Hurr Hurr Hurr."

"HAH HAH HAHAH!"

"HAR HAR HAR!"

"HA HA HA HAHA!"

"Snort."

His green hair, now spread around his head in a monstrous mess, his permanent red lipped smile giving off a frowning effect as his anger strained his face in attempts of lowering the corners of his smile, and only succeeding in the slightest way.

"He's MINE!" his voice rasped out angrily against his inmate's laughter. "The little Bird is mine. Do you HEAR me? None of you touch him." Boy was he ganna think up some ways to get that tight wearing side kick. That little Robin in spandex. Maybe even get to the Bat himself, for getting a new bird, and for what his newest birdie had done. "He's the JOKER'S property from now on. And next time he'll STAY dead."

(AN: Sorry to interrupt again, just need to give credit where it's due (since I heart these comics to much to not do so) ROBIN II The Jokers Wild! part four) (and a mix of my own again. Now, to the new side:)

**Else Where **

Dick woke up and stretched himself out underneath the sheets. He then arched himself up against his back. And let out a sigh as he landed back on his very hard bed in his small one room apartment. He lay there for a few minutes attempting to relax his muscles but finding it to be rather difficult. His growing black hair covered his soft pillow, probably the only thing soft and comfortable that he owned. He looked out his small dinky window as he waited. The sun was another three hours from being any where near visible in the sky.

The stars shown brightly and the moon had already disappeared. His eyes caught on a black car that looked too familiar for him to not notice. His heart skipped a beat as the car got closer. He soon realized that it was only a black porch. False alarm.

It had been almost two years since he'd talked to Bruce. Yeah he'd kept tabs on him, as Bruce Wayne and the Dark Knight. He had talked to Alfred often enough, since he called wondering how he was more often then Dick truly cared for. He loved Alfred like he would any family member but he always worried that Bruce was listening in. Alfred had sworn that he wouldn't tell Bruce until Dick felt he was ready to actually talk to Bruce himself. He also claimed that whenever he called to talk to him that Bruce thought he was calling relatives that lived out of town, as most of Alfred's did.

Bruce had no reason as to not trust Alfred but then again it was Bruce. He was known to trust no one, not even the newest Robin it seemed (he'd been keeping tabs on him as well).

It hadn't been by choice that Alfred had gotten his number. In fact two years ago it was Kory who had given Alfred Dick's new number since leaving the Titans (he knew it was a mistake to tell Kory his number, lucky though she didn't know where he was living since the only phone number he had was his cell's). In fact it was the very day Dick saw Batman almost for the first time since he joined, or more created, the Teen Titans. Two years ago. At Jason's funeral.

Dick brought his hand up and set it on top of his forehead, his blue eyes glancing up at the ceiling with a tired look. That day would forever be engraved in his memory. How tired everyone looked. How distressed _he_ had looked. A few months later Dick had found Tim, which was good for _him_. _He_ needed another side kick to get _his_ mind off of things. Dick had been tempted to move back home just to make _him_ feel better, but Dick was too stubborn to do anything like that.

_'Just like him.' _Dick thought as he looked at the ceiling. He wondered how much of him had turned out like Bruce, like Batman. Was he even truly his own person any more? He didn't know at times and he hated the moments when he questioned who he was and how much he was true to himself. This moment would pass; he knew this, as all the other moments like this in the past had passed. But for the moment he couldn't help but wonder.

Where was his life headed? Was he going to turn in to _him_? The one that had, and continued, to strike fear in to so many peoples lives. Was he going to turn in to _him?_ Would he become like _he_ had right after Jason's death? If he had gone 'home' after Jason's funeral would Bruce have become happier? Would he be questioning who he was as often as he did?

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

He lay there as he was, waiting for a few minutes, completely spaced out. Before he finally brought his arm from his forehead and almost slammed it down on his noisy alarm clock. Luckily he caught himself in time and patted the snooze button lightly before pulling himself up. He stretched his arms over his head, not yawning (a thing lost to him since the age of thirteen). He then pulled the thin white covers off of himself to reveal his black spandex pants, more like capries (sp?) since they ended where his spandex boots (witch had nice leather souls) started. He barely wore anything else any more, and if he did the spandex pants were usually underneath any other leg covering garment.

He let his bare feet touch the ground and sat there for a few minutes letting his bare chest and feet adjust to the surrounding atmosphere outside the protection of his bed covers. Alfred would probably have a fit if he saw the way Dick was keeping himself, and especially at the way he dressed in the dead of winter. Dick could almost hear his scolding voice now. At the thought of being scolded by Alfred he smiled remembering his child hood and how much trouble he'd caused him.

Alfred use to always call him a devil and then smile when he turned his back. Later on Alfred told him that Bruce and he had been quite similar as adolescents, which further annoyed him at having no true soul identity. He sometimes felt like a cheap copy of a fancier brand of cereal.

His alarm went off again and he was sorely tempted to fling it across the room. However he contained himself as he recalled that he was already shorter on cash then need be. So he gently turned his alarm clock off and got up out of his bed. He then lay out on the floor and curled his knees up towards his chest. He did a few dozen sets of curl-ups then a few dozen sets of push-ups and then another few sets of each before rolling away from the ground beside his bed and popping himself up at the frame of his open closet.

A white button shirt hung off a bent hanger along with a nice black coat a pair of black pants, a red tie and a black belt. Beside it a work out outfit sat neatly on it's hanger and beneath the two outfits lay a pair of nice black shoes and a pair of worn out tennishoes (sp?), beside them a few pair of white and black socks neatly rolled together with its matching sock.

Dick may not have very much time on his hands any more but he had always been neat no matter how little time he had, though the rest of his apartment wouldn't agree so much. He had a few other clothing materials thrown out on his couch, not many, and a few books lounging about. He didn't own enough to really call any part of his apartment a mess but the only truly clean part of it was his bedroom. His small front room and kitchen always seemed to be messier.

His most prized possession that he had taken with him from the manor was leftover birthday money that he had splurged on buying himself a lap top, from which he did almost all of his re-search. This he kept safely guarded in the small table beside his bed that Speedy (the archer) had given him as a joke, he bet Speedy didn't know how useful it had become (other wise he probably would have taken it back).

He passed over the two neatly made outfits and pulled out his spandex boots from a hidden compartment at the back of his closet, the habits of being careful, which he found to be useful at times, seemed would never leave him. He pulled them on and then reached back in to his hidden little compartment and pulled out his changed black shirt with a crimson, very dark crimson, type of bird insignia on it. Guess the nick name 'birdie' would be stuck with him forever. Those words engraved in to him by the only two people who had left an impression using that nickname.

_"What's the matter birdie boy? Cat got you're tongue?"_

"_What's the matter Robin? Is the little birdie angry? Or are you scared?" _

He felt his rage build for a second as he pulled the shirt over his head rather roughly. After he had the shirt on his hand snaked back in to the secret compartment, pulling his, also changed dark crimson, mask and utility belt out (for once he had remembered to take it off before falling asleep). He then let the door to the compartment drop along with the rug above it. He double checked it to make sure it was secured snugly and looked as if nothing were different about it.

When he'd done that he walked in to his small kitchen. He found that almost every dish he owned, which wasn't many, were dirty. Remembering once again Alfred's lecturing he grabbed two uncooked pop tarts from his almost empty cupboards (sp? 1) and headed back to his room. He stuck the unopened pop tart bag in his mouth as he pulled up his window, which always seemed to be nailed shut, and looked around outside. This being a part of the slums of Cito (2) made it easy to get in and out of the run down apartment building with out being noticed. And if noticed it was usually by a drunk.

He swiftly exited his window in one swift motion and found himself at the top of the apartment complex looking over the snow filled streets, or more like slums with a city farther down, below him. Nothing like the sky scrapers and buildings of Gothom, Metropolis, or New York but he'd gotten use to that. He opened his pop tart bag and began to slowly eat the first pop tart as he scanned the streets below. He wondered what he would think if he ever went back and stood on one of those tall towers again. How different would it feel after two years of living here?

He finished his first pop tart and brushed away the crumbs.

_'Probably wouldn't feel all that different.'_ He thought as he took a bite of the second pop tart. He stuck the wrapper in a hole on the roof, not caring at the moment if he was littering or not.

Something off in the distance caught his eye. He shoved half the remaining pop tart in to his mouth as he took off. He didn't use his grappling hook much in this part of town, unless absolutely necessary, he saved that for the better streets of Cito. He jumped from low roof top to higher one and back and forth since the buildings were close enough and didn' have that much a difference in height between them.

He finished the pop tart and found himself looking over the edge of a small building, a pillow factory from the looks of it. He wondered if this was maybe the place where his utterly soft pillow had come from, but he didn't really stop to think about it. Two thugs, in the light, had a girl that looked to be in her early twenties cornered. She had green eyes, blond hair, tanned skin and wore too much jewelry to be wandering this side of town.

_'Probably a tourist.' _Dick thought to himself. However lately always being on his guard he didn't even trust victims any more. Save them but remember that there as much a threat as the thugs around them. That had become one of Dick's odd new mottos.

"Hand over 'dem jewels precious." the guy nearest to her crooned, touching her hair and cheek. "Ya' don't want us to hurt 'dat pretty little neck o' yours now do ya'?" He said this as he rubbed the girls 'pretty little neck'.

There were about eight or nine thugs in all hiding in the shadows behind the two men in the light. So about ten, or eleven, guys in total going against the one glamoured (sp?) up girl.

Dick had noticed the numbers of the thugs traveling groups quickly increasing in Cito, especially as of lately, even if it was only a bang up on one person (weather they be old, young, or in-between). He was wondering if this was all because of him. He couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of this.

_'That would be interesting if it was.' _he counted up the guys again to make sure he knew exactly how many there were, since the thugs had been attempting to be trickier lately and hide things. It wouldn't surprise him if they started trying to hide machine guns in there mists. He counted a total of eleven.

None of them seemed to be carrying any more then a hand gun (which all the thugs in Cito carried) and, or, a wooden club.

He swiftly and quietly appeared behind the farthest guy back, hidden still inside the dark.

_'I wonder,' _he thought as he silently took out the first guy, so quietly that no one seemed to notice. _'One.'_

_'If the,' _he crept up on the second guy and had him on the ground as well before he could do anything else but breathe. _'Two.'_

_'Batman_ ever,' he crept on the third guy, still covered by the shadows of the building beside them and took him out just as silently as the first two. _'Three.'_

_'Had people this scared.' _the fourth guy was a cinch. _'Four.'_

_'Then again,' _the fifth guy was down and out and Dick found himself almost half way there without even breaking a sweat. _'Five.'_

_'I don't think he ever,'_ the sixth guy fell to the snow so soundlessly Dick was feeling impressed with himself at how quietly he was managing to take these guys to the ground. _'Six.'_

_'Lived in such a small town,' _the seventh guy was just as soundless as the other six before him and made Dick feel even more proud of himself for being so capable of having them 'drop dead' so silently, though dead they were far from. _'Seven.'_

_'in such a far off place' _the eighth guy was a cinch. _'Eight.'_

_'for so long.' _Ninth guy fell just as silent as the others and Dick found himself closing in on the last three, still not even being noticed by the 'victim' facing him as he neared the three closest to the light. _'Nine.'_

Dick sighed, knowing that Batman would probably have had these people in such a gang ridden area living with fear always jumping at them whenever they needed to move, at least for the gang members. The regular pedestrian or person may just fear him from a distance.

_'It probably isn't me any way.' _Dick thought as the tenth guy dropped and he appeared behind the eleventh. _'Ten.'_

Now completely in the light the 'victim' saw him for the first time as he stepped over the tenth man on the lit snowy ground. Fear, and hope, struck out in her green eyes as he approached the eleventh guy.

The guy saw this in her eyes and said something that Dick instantly recognized as a curse.

"Rahat. It's the Moartea aripă (3) isn't it?"

Dick let him finish with a smile before striking.

_'Eleven.' _The guy feel to the ground and was out as cold as the snow beginning to cover him._ 'Sleep tight.' _

The girl looked up at him and her eyes seemed to say monster. Though she also breathed a sigh of relief, which was as much as being called a savior as Dick ever got.

He vanished in to the night air, leaving the girl to scurry home.

He watched her from the top of a near by building.

A monster…is that what he'd become?

**AN: **

1) YOU ALL KNOW I DISLIKE THAT WORD!

2) CITO- Since Gotham and Metropolise are too close, and Batman lives in Gotham and has his buddy in the present (seven years later) Superman in Metropolise Dick couldn't go to either of those places if he didn't want to be found. And Teen Titan tower was in NY so he couldn't go there. And he couldn't stay with the outsiders (because i hate to say it but I don't know enough about when he lead them to know what to do with that scenario. Ill have to read up on it more (i know about when Batman was helping them out and all but not so much when Nightwing was) so no outsiders, sorry). Hence I created a new place for him to live and Its in Transylvania, and the cities completely made up because I my self have never been to Transylvania. But just so you know this changes the whole story, i originally was going to have him in the USA but that didn't work out *batman has too many friends there. Especially since he's in the Justice league now*. So this is a made up city in Transylvania (and yes almost everyone speaks English). I am truly sorry and I hope that I don't offend any one, I don't know how I would but I'd like to make sure that I don't. So I am not trying to and if I do I am truly truly truly sorry!

3) yeah this is Transylvania but they speak Romanian, i don't know weather im whacked or not.

Rahat- Shit Moartea aripă- Death wing

Sooooo yeah. Welcome back me? I know I should have updated a story, but I ended up with this instead. _ Don't kill me in my sleep please!

Also! Am sorry there were a few points I had - marks in between things to give clarification, they disappeared. _


End file.
